Obama Leaves Trail For Ailing Grandmother

Barack Obama will leave the campaign trail for at least two days this week to tend to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii. According to CNN and The Huffington Post, Obama's grandmother is gravely ill.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is canceling nearly all his campaign events Thursday and Friday to fly to Hawaii to visit his suddenly gravely ill 85-year-old grandmother, his communications director said.

Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Obama's plane that Obama's grandmother, Madelyn Payne Dunham, who helped raise him, was released from the hospital late last week. But he said her health had deteriorated "to the point where her situation is very serious. " ...

Madelyn Dunham, who helped raise Obama, has been one of the most important people in his life, along with his mother and grandfather. All hail from Kansas. Obama has been consistently outspoken about his love for his mother and grandparents and Dunham's illness appears to be an unexpected blow.

Citing the family's desire for privacy, Gibbs would not discuss the nature of Dunham's illness. It seemed likely that she was close to death, as Gibbs said that "everyone understands the decision that Sen. Obama is making."

It could be a momentous one in his bid for the White House against Republican John McCain, with Election Day just two weeks away on Nov. 4.

In a campaign ad this year, Obama described his Dunham as the daughter of a Midwest oil company clerk who "taught me values straight from the Kansas heartland" _ things like "accountability and self-reliance. Love of country. Working hard without making excuses. Treating your neighbor as you'd like to be treated."

She's also the "white grandmother" he referred to in a speech on race.

There are comment threads wishing Senator Obama and his family well all over the web. Feel free to leave well wishes here, too.